Israel Peace Week 2012

How to effectively counter Israeli Apartheid Week on campus.

Next week, Israel-haters will once again launch the misinformed and misinforming movement known as “Israeli Apartheid Week” (IAW) in universities and communities across the world. The good news is that while IAW claims to be growing, its execution on North American campuses is limited to a handful, and even in these places, the organizers do not reach very many undecided students.

However, another student-led movement about Israel will include participants on 75 campuses across North America, and is poised to impact a far larger and more diverse audience. That movement is “Israel Peace Week,” (IPW) a student-conceived grassroots educational campaign now in its third year. Originally created as a preemptive response to IAW, IPW has developed into a proactive and engaging campaign that is effective regardless of whether there is anti-Israel activity on a specific campus.

IPW revolves around a simple, yet often understated message: Israel wants peace and has demonstrated its willingness to make painful sacrifices for peace. The campaign also outlines options for peace, existential threats to the Jewish state, and the values and accomplishments of a thriving Israeli democracy in an otherwise despotic region. IPW organizers employ methods such as interactive displays in the center of campus, cultivating relationships with non-Jewish groups on campus, writing in the campus newspaper, and innovative social media campaigns in order to educate as many of their peers as possible.

In stark contrast, the main thrust of this year’s IAW is to generate support for the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” movement, a campaign that calls on universities and individuals to divest from companies that do business in Israel, boycott the sale of goods produced in West Bank settlements, and boycott Israeli universities and professors.

By singling Israel out for censure and advocating for a one-state solution, BDS is not a simply a movement to criticize Israeli policy, but an effort to delegitimize the state itself.

A recent study conducted by The Israel Project and the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise indicates that most university students, while knowing little about the issues, are not sympathetic to the idea of boycotting Israel. Furthermore, when the goals of the BDS movement are explained, opposition to the idea increases significantly.

The arguments that both sides must accept responsibility for creating peace, and that there are more constructive ways to express concern about a government’s policies – say dialog, for instance – than boycotting, resonate strongly with students.

Even before this study, the students who created IPW two years ago intuited that their peers could be engaged with messages about peace and how to achieve it. By propagating a solution-oriented message, IPW lends wider understanding to the efforts Israel has made for peace, and the reality that terror and incitement must be eradicated to bring about a true solution. It is an opportunity for pro-Israel students to discuss difficult topics in a resonant manner.

The contrast between solution-seeking and boycott is sadly mirrored in the Middle East today, of course. While Israel maintains a willingness to dialog with the Palestinian Authority without preconditions, last September the PA sought to circumvent a negotiated settlement through its unilateral statehood bid (UDI). Support for UDI also did not gain traction on campus, while campaigns about Israel’s efforts for a negotiated peace were better received.

As the PA enters a unity government with Hamas, which openly calls for Israel’s destruction, IPW organizers must communicate that this is yet another obstacle to peace.

As an aside, while the BDS movement may not currently have wide-stream appeal on campus, it is gaining academic legitimacy, most alarmingly at Ivy League institutions like Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, both hosting high-level anti- Israel conferences this spring. While in no way endorsed by the universities themselves, these conferences are championed by prominent academics on each campus. At Pennsylvania political science chair Ian Lustick, a well-known critic of Israel, expressed support for the conference while stopping just shy of directly endorsing BDS. At Harvard, conference organizers are planning appearances by law professor Duncan Kennedy and Kennedy School of Government professor Stephen Walt.

Cloaked as explorations for “alternative peaceful solutions,” these conferences are championed by prominent academics on each campus. The TIP/AICE data also happen to indicate that a whopping 83 percent of students who have taken a Middle Eastern studies course believed their professors to be “unbiased.”

This perception, when considered in light of growing academic delegitimization of Israel, has serious long-term implications.

Taking both the success of IPW and the widening legitimacy of BDS into account, the pro-Israel community must think critically about how to maintain support for Israel among tomorrow’s leaders. It certainly seems that the messages of peace and equality are more persuasive than boycotts and sanctions. But how do we ensure that Israel’s supporters are more influential that its detractors? This is a question that must be considered as new battlegrounds arise.

In the mean time, let’s commend the courageous and innovative young adults making the case for Israel on the front lines.

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About the Author

Since 2006, Natalie Menaged has been on the management team of Hasbara Fellowships, serving as Managing Director, National Director, and now as Director of Education. In her current capacity, Natalie oversees the Hasbara Fellowships curriculum and campaigns, activism training programs in Israel, leadership development, public relations, and other strategic initiatives. Natalie was a participant on the very first Hasbara Fellowships and was the founder and president of Gators for Israel at the University of Florida. She was extensively involved in university and state politics, as well as the Jewish community, during her time at UF. Upon graduation Natalie worked for Hasbara Fellowships as a Campus Coordinator, and then studied in Israel. With her husband Eli, Natalie was active in Jewish education and outreach in Brooklyn for many years. The Menaged family recently made aliyah to join the Israel XP program at Bar-Ilan University, where they look forward to continuing their work in Jewish education and Israel advocacy.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 7

(4)
cb,
February 28, 2012 8:19 PM

I am often at the campus of a large public university and when ever I see these kids (on both sides) protesting, all I can think of is "How cute" I mean, how wise do these 18-21 yr olds think they are? It's very easy to have big opinions when you're living in the womb of college. IMHO, you're American, act like it.Why don't these kaffiyeh-wearing sympathizers move to the Middle East? Or move to Israel.

(3)
Tsion,
February 26, 2012 4:40 PM

unfortunately the history is repeating itself again.
when the Nazis occupied new places in WWII they put sign up on Jewish stores warning people not buy from the Jewish business
the Boycotts hes antisemitism roots

(2)
G,
February 19, 2012 11:23 PM

well....no.

Israel Peace Week is a very bad counter-move to Israel Aparthieid Week because it ends up reinforcing it. Instead of mounting a defensive campaign like this to try to show how lovely and peaceful Israel is, which simply emboldens the other side, why not attack the other side? Why not host an Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week or an Arab Barbarism Week to show how its actually Israel's enemies who commit the atrocities they falsely accuse Israel of orchestrating? IPW just plays into these peoples hands.

Daniel,
February 23, 2012 4:56 AM

Doesn't work

As a university student I am strongly against going on the offense. It doesn't work. First of all we'd be playing their game which isn't right. 2 wrongs don't make a right after all. Also we won't convince anyone and we will just cause a fuss and end up desacrating Gods name. Plus only 20 percent of the students care about te situation do its useless. The best way is peaceful demonstration like ipw or focusing on the positives like Israel week, which is what my campus does, to celebrate the culture and achievements of Israel.

(1)
Isahiah62,
February 19, 2012 6:41 PM

Boycotts are ILLEGAL too

it is unlawful for Americans to participate in boycotts of foreign nations- so these IAW are encouraging people to break the laws of this land-

Corin,
February 20, 2012 6:58 AM

Thats kind of hogwash

I don't agree with BDS, certainly not of Israel. However I think people have the right to choose where they purchase their goods from. For example I refrain whenever possible from purchasing goods made in sweatshops from companies like Nike, or Apple. Most of these are made in China but also other countries. As a result I don't really purchase goods from China - boycotting is a just move to take down injustice, however Israel isn't being unjust. Also just because a law exists doesn't mean the law is just. I resign myself not to follow unjust laws, as Jews have done for thousands of years.

Rachel,
February 22, 2012 10:25 PM

individual boycotts are completely legal in US

There is no law in the U.S. prohibiting individual Americans from participating in boycotts. (Indeed, such a law would most likely violate the First Amendment.) Furthermore, it would be unenforceable -- there is no way to force individuals to purchase goods that they do not want or need, nor to punish them for refusing to do so. Boycotts by individuals have been a useful tool in bringing about an end to apartheid in South Africa and stopping bad corporate behavior.
All of that makes it a concern that BDS is being accepted by some institutions.

I've been striving to get more into spirituality. But it seems that every time I make some progress, I find myself slipping right back to where I started. I'm getting discouraged and feel like a failure. Can you help?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Spiritual slumps are a natural part of spiritual growth. There is a cycle that people go through when at times they feel closer to God and at times more distant. In the words of the Kabbalists, it is "two steps forward and one step back." So although you feel you are slipping, know that this is a natural process. The main thing is to look at your overall progress (over months or years) and be able to see how far you've come!

This is actually God's ingenious way of motivating us further. The sages compare this to teaching a baby how to walk. When the parent is holding on, the baby shrieks with delight and is under the illusion that he knows how to walk. Yet suddenly, when the parent lets go, the child panics, wobbles and may even fall.

At such times when we feel spiritually "down," that is often because God is letting go, giving us the great gift of independence. In some ways, these are the times when we can actually grow the most. For if we can move ourselves just a little bit forward, we truly acquire a level of sanctity that is ours forever.

Here is a practical tool to help pull you out of the doldrums. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about a great principle in spiritual growth: "The external awakens the internal." This means that although we may not experience immediate feelings of closeness to God, eventually, by continuing to conduct ourselves in such a manner, this physical behavior will have an impact on our spiritual selves and will help us succeed. (A similar idea is discussed by psychologists who say: "Smile and you will feel happy.")

That is the power of Torah commandments. Even if we may not feel like giving charity or praying at this particular moment, by having a "mitzvah" obligation to do so, we are in a framework to become inspired. At that point we can infuse that act of charity or prayer with all the meaning and lift it can provide. But if we'd wait until being inspired, we might be waiting a very long time.

May the Almighty bless you with the clarity to see your progress, and may you do so with joy.

In 1940, a boatload 1,600 Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler's ovens was denied entry into the port of Haifa; the British deported them to the island of Mauritius. At the time, the British had acceded to Arab demands and restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The urgent plight of European Jewry generated an "illegal" immigration movement, but the British were vigilant in denying entry. Some ships, such as the Struma, sunk and their hundreds of passengers killed.

If you seize too much, you are left with nothing. If you take less, you may retain it (Rosh Hashanah 4b).

Sometimes our appetites are insatiable; more accurately, we act as though they were insatiable. The Midrash states that a person may never be satisfied. "If he has one hundred, he wants two hundred. If he gets two hundred, he wants four hundred" (Koheles Rabbah 1:34). How often have we seen people whose insatiable desire for material wealth resulted in their losing everything, much like the gambler whose constant urge to win results in total loss.

People's bodies are finite, and their actual needs are limited. The endless pursuit for more wealth than they can use is nothing more than an elusive belief that they can live forever (Psalms 49:10).

The one part of us which is indeed infinite is our neshamah (soul), which, being of Divine origin, can crave and achieve infinity and eternity, and such craving is characteristic of spiritual growth.

How strange that we tend to give the body much more than it can possibly handle, and the neshamah so much less than it needs!